Process for making wall covering



PROCESS FOR MAKING WALL COVERING Filed Aug. 5. 1950 FLOYD i a? RES 1 i'3 j BY M/m United States Patent PROCESS FOR MAKING WALL COVERING FloydA. Holes, Solon, Ohio, asslgnor, by mesne assign- 'ments, to TheDobeckmun Company, a corporation of 'Ohio Application August 5, 1950,Serial No. 177,967

1 Claim. (Cl. 154-120) This invention relates to fabric printing ingeneral, but relates specifically to the process of making a fabric wallcovering.

My invention is embodied in the process of producing a decorative wallcovering. In my process a backing sheet, usually strong paper or anysuitable sheet of dimensionally stable material, is used as a mount forcloth. Cloth, or fabric, is usually quite flimsy. It is dimensionallyunstable. This dimensionally unstable material is removably bonded tothe backing sheet, and thereby is held dimensionally stable by thebacking sheet. The laminated structure of flimsy material and backingsheet may then be printed to provide a pattern printed directly upon thecloth. The printed cloth, at this stage of my process, is notsatisfactory for a wall covering. It is still flimsy and will stretch,and therefore the pattern of two strips cannot easily be matched whenwetted and hung on a wall. After printing, a film of flowable materialwhich will harden into a flexible but dimensionally stablewaterresistant film is used as a sizing on the cloth. As an alternative,a film may be placed over the cloth and laminated thereto, such forexample as by calenderizing on hot rolls with thermoplastic films. Afterthe film is hard, the cloth is separated from the backing sheet. Thecloth is now dimensionally stabilized by the film. The cloth will notstretch, and therefore the patterns of two strips will match when thecovering is hung. Furthermore, the covering is water resistant.

Printed fabric wall coverings, particularly when made water resistantfor washability, are usually considered to be superior to paper.However, there have been difliculties in the production and use offabric wall coverings which have added to their cost and detracted fromtheir usefulness. At least one large manufacturer of decorative wallcovering materials first applies a water-resistant film to strips ofcloth, and then prints on the coated cloth. This cloth is dimensionallystable before printing. This manufacturer has learned that unsupportedcloth cannot be printed and then coated because the cloth will stretchand distort during coating, and has overcome this problem by firstapplying the film of water-resistant material, and thereafter printingon the coated cloth. The printing, however, is on the surface of thefilm, and not in the cloth. Therefore, when this wall covering is usedaround wash sinks, stoves, and similar places where excessive washing isnecessary, the pattern soon washes away, leaving the unattractive basematerial exposed.

Therefore, an object of this invention is to provide a decorative wallcovering having a cloth base with the pattern printed into the cloth andcovered with a film.

Another object of the invention is to provide a decorative wall coveringhaving a cloth base substantially stabilized dimensionally by a waterresistant film, and having a decorative pattern under the film.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had byreferring to the following description and claim, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, in which:

2,725,324 Patented Nov. 29, 19 55 Figure 1 is a diagrammaticillustration of a temporary paper base member with a print cloth securedthereto and coated with a clear film;

Figure 2 is a section taken along line 2-2 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a view like Figure 1 but'with the paper removed, thereforeit is a view of the finished product.

Although permanent conveyor belts may be used as a dimensionally stablebacking sheet to which a flimsy dimensionally flexible sheet of cloth 11may be temporarily mounted, I prefer to use paper strips 10. Preparedpaper strips may be stored for future use, and if necessary, even thestrips 10 with cloth 11 bonded thereto may be stored for future use.Further, a permanent conveyor would have to be quite long for surfacepreparation and mounting of the cloth.

Tough paper strips are flexible, yet strong and dimensionally stable.The surface of the paper may be made adhesive by any one of severaltypes of bonding agents. Common starch paste has been suggested. Watersoftening adhesives may be used. I have found an exceptionallysatisfactory bonding agent which has the property of permitting thepaper 10 and cloth 11 to be mechanically ripped apart without anypreparation, and without damage to either the paper or cloth.Furthermore, it is desirable that no adhesive remain upon the wallcovering after separation. The adhesive which I have found mostsatisfactory for this purpose is nitrocellulose plasticized with castoroil and thinned with isopropyl acetate. This adhesive is appliedpreferably to the surface of the paper strip, rather than the cloth, andpermitted to dry. At any time thereafter, the cloth may be applied tothe adhesive surface of the paper, and the adhesive nature of thenitrocellulose regenerated by heat. The cloth will then adhere to thepaper backing strip, and although the adhesive coating may be spotty,nevertheless the cloth will be held substantially dimensionally stable,yet will be flexible for rolling and printing. Printing may then be donein any suitable manner with standard equipment. The adhesive, being ofextremely thin dimension, is not set forth in the drawing.

After the mounted cloth has been printed, a coating or film surface 13is applied to the cloth. The coating or film surface serves the dualfunction of substantially stabilizing the cloth dimensionally, and ofmaking the surface water resistant and washable. The pattern in cloth 11is indicated by reference character 12 in the drawing.

I have found that a desirable coating or film forming material may becomposed of a vinyl resin, such, for example, as a copolymer of vinylacetate and vinyl chloride. The material is plasticized and stabilizedfor proper handling. Dioctyl phthalate is a desirable plasticizer, andbarium ricinoleate and cadmium ricinoleate are desirable stabilizers. Ifdesired this material may first be sheeted, and thereafter calendered tolaminate it with the cloth.

The coating or film forming material will unite with the cloth, andinasmuch as the film is dimensionally stable, the cloth will besubstantially stabilized. Further, the surface of the cloth will bewashable, and the print will be united with the cloth under the film.The print is protected by the film.

After printing followed by coating or film stabilizing, thesubstantially stabilized wall covering is separated from the temporarypaper backing. With an adhesive of the type used as an illustration, theseparation is done by mechanically pulling the sheets apart. Also withthis preferred type of adhesive, the adhesive has a stronger affinityfor paper than for cloth, and therefore substan tially all the adhesiveclings to the paper, thereby leaving the wall covering clean.

ferred form with a certain degree of particularity; it is understoodthat the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only byway of example and that numerousichanges in the details of constructionand the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to withoutdeparting frornthe spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafterclaimed.

What is claimed is: I I

The process of producing 'a decorative fabric wall covering, comprisingthe steps of, providing a backing sheet of paper, providing adimensionally unstable fabric sheet, providing an adhesive composed ofnitrocellulose plasticized with castor oil and thinned with isopropylacetate, applying said adhesive to said paper and drying the adhesive,placing said fabric and paper together with the fabric against saidadhesive, reactivating said adhesive to bond the fabric to said paper,thereafter printing a design on said fabric, then stabilizing theprinted fabric dimensionally by applying a film forming resin copolymerof vinyl acetate and vinyl chlorideplasticized with dioctyl phthalateand stabilized with barium ricinoleate and cadmium ricinoleate, causingsaid film to harden, and finally stripping the fabric Wall covering fromthe paper backing.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS333,881 Mencke Jan. 5, 1,690,179 Sadtler Nov. 6, 1928 1,951,620MacLaurin- Mar. 20,, 1934 1,973,403 Borden Sept. 11, 1934 1,974,883Swift Sept. 25, 1934 1,986,954 Abrams et a1. Jan. 8, 1935 1,998,638Reese Apr. 23, 1935 2,029,377 Kaplan Feb. 4, 1936 2,556,078 Francis June5, 1951

